THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
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coquiana, and apparently perfectly hardy here. Our 
specimen is quite dense, but too small to give us a correct 
idea of its value as an ornamental tree. 
P. Alcoquiana (Alcock’s Spruce).—Native of the Fuji- 
Yama Mountains, Japan. A pretty and distinct spruce, 
apparently quite hardy here, and in good ground a fairly 
good grower. The under side of the leaves is marked 
with white, like those of some silver firs, and the leaves 
being curved, the backs of many of them appear above, 
giving the whole tree a silvery variegated appearance. 
P. Engelmanni (Engelmann’s Spruce).—From “ British 
Columbia and Oregon, south through the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains to Arizona and east to the Black Hills of Dakota.” 
A beautiful spruce, quite hardy and free-growing, and 
promises to win much popularity. Like the Colorado 
blue spruce, it differs much in variety, so far as leaf-color 
is concerned; the foliage of different plants may vary 
from plain to glaucous or bluish green. The bluer the 
plants the more they are prized. 
P. excelsa (Norway Spruce).—From Northern Europe 
and Asia. The commonest of all garden evergreens, and 
one of the most useful. In not over-exposed places it 
makes a capital wind-break, hedge or screen, and in large 
places may be used with good landscape effect, but its 
commonness now, in the face of so many other desirable 
and handsome evergreens, should deny it a prominent 
position in a small garden. There are many garden 
varieties of it, some pretty and serviceable and others 
hideously ugly. We have a beautiful weeping form (var. 
inverta) whose branches from the ground upward bend 
down closely and gracefully over each other. We have 
the variety Clanbra siliana , which is a compact, small 
bush growing on high, dry ground it is doing poorly, 
but on low, moist land it is a picture of health. The 
variety Gregoryana is a very dense, low-growing bush, 
pleasing in appearance and easily satisfied in soil or situa¬ 
tion. With a little judicious shortening of the branches 
Parsons’ variety elata is a very distinct and ornamental 
tree. We have a fine specimen of it. We have several 
plants of the variety compacta, which, though very dense, 
are nevertheless quite free-growing. I do not know an 
uglier spruce than the variety monstrosa. 
P. Orientalis (Oriental Spruce).—The Caucasian region 
and the southeastern coast of the Black Sea. It is a neat 
and pretty spruce, hardy, of compact pyramidal habit, 
slow growing, and well fitted for small gardens. It dif¬ 
fers considerably in variety; some are much more desir¬ 
able than others, but I am not aware of any “ fixed ” 
varieties known in gardens. 
P. polita (The Tiger’s-tail Spruce).—Native of the 
mountains in Northern Nipon. A bold, distinct and 
hardy spruce. We have it in open, exposed and sheltered 
positions, and it seems at home wherever placed. Its 
leaves are very rigid and sharp-pointed. 
P.pungens (Colorado Blue Spruce).—“ Rocky Moun¬ 
tains of Colorado, extending into Wyoming and, perhaps, 
Idaho.” One of the prettiest of spruces, and so far as I 
have been able to observe, absolutely hardy here. The 
bluest varieties are the most esteemed and are usually 
propagated by grafting, because in a batch of seedlings 
only a very small percentage comes blue-colored, the bal¬ 
ance are from plain deep green to slightly bluish. But 
for hedge or shelter use I believe there is a prominent 
future in store for the common forms of this species on 
account of their compact growth while young and great 
hardiness. While the rank and file are cheap enough, the 
beautiful blue forms must necessarily continue to be 
costly; but better pay a good price for the fine variety 
than have the common one at any price. 
P. Smithiana (Himalayan Spruce).—From the Hima¬ 
layas. One of the most elegant of spruces and prettiest 
of evergreen trees, but, alas, not reliably hardy near New 
York. We have two nice specimens, in a low (but not 
wet) and well sheltered portion of our garden, that are 
doing well and have not been hurt by winter, but, never¬ 
theless, the species is not quite hardy here. 
Pseudotsuga Douglasti {Douglas Spruce).—“From Ore¬ 
gon and California, in the Coast Ranges, to Mexico, and 
east through Arizona and New Mexico to the Rocky 
Mountains of Colorado.” It is only the form found in 
the Rocky Mountains of Colorado that is supposed to be 
hardy here. It is the Oregon and California form that 
has been so successfully grown in European grounds ; 
but no matter, it is not hardy enough in the East to war¬ 
rant our using it, therefore we must depend on the Colo¬ 
rado one. But, curiously enough, one of the finest speci¬ 
mens in our grounds, and which has never been injured 
in winter, is the Oregon form. It is a very handsome 
evergreen, deep to glossy green in color, sometimes glau¬ 
cous, and not infrequently differing considerably in habit. 
It is throughout pleasantly fragrant, and the ladies have 
a fondness for its green boughs with which to decorate 
the fireplaces in summer. 
Tsuga Canadensis (Hemlock Spruce).—In the north, 
and southward along the Alleghanies to Georgia. One 
of the most beautiful and elegant of all evergreens. 
Given cool, deep, moist, but not wet soil and a sheltered 
situation, we may reasonably expect a perfect specimen ; 
but on high, dry land, wet or undrained land, or in an 
exposed place, we are apt to have disfigured trees. But 
shelter it from north and west winds anyway. Suitably 
situated, it forms one of the prettiest and best of hedges. 
There are several varieties of it in cultivation. The broad¬ 
leaved form, Sargent’s weeping and Manning’s fastigiate 
are among the best and most distinct, and all are good. 
T. Mertensiana (the California Hemlock) and T. 
Paitoniana (from the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Moun¬ 
tains) are pretty trees, but with us, at any rate, they refuse 
to be comforted. 
T. Sieboldii (Siebold’s Hemlock).—We have several 
specimens of this beautiful Japanese species, and grow¬ 
ing under different conditions, so far as shelter and ex¬ 
posure are concerned, but all on dry ground, and so far 
they have not at all been winter-injured. In the vicinity 
of Boston, however, some years ago, we had a specimen 
seven feet in height growing on the rockwork in the 
Botanic Garden, Cambridge, and which got winter-killed, 
notwithstanding the fact that it had, in the same spot, 
braved uninjured several previous winters. 
William Falconer, 
